Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan denied funding for At-Large Councilman-elect Eric Garrett’s Beyond Expectations Barber College to avoid the “perception of impropriety,” according to a letter last week responding to City Council questions.
In his letter, Horrigan also raised concerns about the sustainability of Garrett’s businesses, including the barber college.
Garrett, however, called Horrigan’s critique “another attack on an African-American business owner,” saying that no one questions the Caucasian leadership of the University of Akron or Stark State when the city awards those organizations grant funding. Instead, he said, it’s viewed as the city demonstrating its commitment to aiding those institutions.
Council President Margo Sommerville asked for an explanation from the mayor’s office last month after City Council heard from students questioning why the city has blocked $25,000 in federal funds to defray tuition cost at the Black-owned barber college on Romig Road.
Garrett said that the funding requested amounted to less than 10% of the college’s operating cost.
“It’s just an attempt to smear and deflect from the real issue at hand,” Garrett said. “My businesses have nothing to do with this. It’s just totally about assisting the students.”
Critics — including Garrett — allege the funds were withheld as political retribution against Garrett, a council candidate they said the mayor’s staff didn’t support.
But its in his response letter, Horrigan said those accusations are “wholly inaccurate” and “insulting to the dedicated team of public servants who diligently work on these kinds of funding requests.”
Garrett applied for the funding before deciding to run for council and turning over operations of the barber college to Daniel Williams to focus on his campaign. Garrett would have used the money to individually reimburse $5,000 in tuition for low-income students.
“So it’s not even enough to cover a full students’ tuition,” said Garrett.
The administration sought an opinion from the city’s Law Department about the ethics of awarding a grant to the business of a person who was running for, and has since won, an at-large city council seat. The money would have been used to provide five to six scholarships to attend the school, which costs about $15,000.
The Law Department’s opinion is that there wasn’t anything inherently inappropriate about awarding the money to BEBC. Still, the administration denied the funding “to completely avoid any possible public perception of impropriety in this instance,” Horrigan stated in his letter to Sommerville
The mayor’s office declined to answer any questions about the letter, stating in an email to the Beacon Journal: “The city’s full explanation can be found in the letter we sent to President Sommerville. We consider this matter closed and have no further comment.”
Miscommunication leads to misunderstanding
Horrigan’s letter laid out the timeline of events that allegedly led to confusion over the funding.
A city employee reached out to Garrett in December 2022 about problems with the grant application — issues that were eventually resolved.
In February, Garrett sent an invoice to the city, which he expected to be paid for by grant funding. At that time, he was informed that grant applications were still under review, and the city couldn’t process the invoice.
Deputy Mayor Sean Vollman emailed Garrett on May 11, telling him that the grant funding wouldn’t be awarded to BEBC in 2023 due to ethical concerns.
Then, on June 21, July 5, and July 28, a city employee who mistakenly believed the funding had been approved emailed Garrett seeking more information for the application.
“These emails were not authorized by the Administration and should not have been sent,” Horrigan wrote. “The City Administration has since apologized to Mr. Garrett on multiple occasions for the confusion they may have caused, and I share those regrets with you here as well.”
Garrett said that no apologies have been made to him.
Horrigan stated that there was never a contract awarding the grant funding, and the city didn’t reconsider Garrett’s application after he was notified that he wouldn’t be receiving the money.
City questions whether Great Expectations Barber College relies too much on grant funding
“Despite the absurd allegations that the City Administration has some ill will toward Mr. Garrett and his businesses and has denied funding in a punitive way,” Horrigan wrote, “a review of the City’s past actions is revealing.”
He cited the money the city has granted BEBC from the same funding source over the past four years: $31,500 in 2022; $31,500 in 2021; $15,000 in 2020; and $15,000 in 2019 for a total of $93,000.
When applying for grants, organizations must submit a sustainability plan to ensure that continuous funding isn’t needed. Horrigan wrote that organizations shouldn’t expect funds just because they’ve been awarded before.
The city is concerned that Garret’s businesses are too dependent on grant funding, Horrigan said, “as a necessity of his business model, which is contrary to the goal of the program aimed at creating self-sustaining small businesses.”
In support, he cited the other grants awarded to Garrett, some of which went to businesses that aren’t the subject of questions raised by council and others: a $12,250 “Great Streets” facade grant in 2021 for the Akron Legends Barbershop; and $30,000 worth of ARPA business relief grants in 2022 for three of Garrett’s other businesses — $10,000 each for Beyond Expectations Barber College, Akron Legends Barbershop, and Kids Academy.
Garrett said that referencing his other businesses is a red herring. The only thing he is interested in, he said, is providing money to aid the students at the barber college.
“It has nothing to do with any of my other businesses,” Garrett said. “As an entrepreneur, you pursue any grants that are available.”
The city helped Garrett receive a $50,000 loan through Akron’s Western Reserve loan fund, funded by Community Development Block Grant-COVID money for businesses unqualified for larger federal loan programs.
“Thus,” Horrigan wrote, “within the last five years, the City has provided Mr. Garrett with $135,250 in grant monies and $50,000 in loan funds, for a total of $185,250 in total funding support. However, the City’s support of Mr. Garrett extends well beyond the last five years. Award, after award, after award made to Mr. Garrett clearly demonstrates the City’s belief in the mission of the BEBC and its students.”
Defying expectations
Garrett praised his students reaction to having these funds denied.
The nature of their reaction, he said, subverted peoples’ expectations of them — they weren’t belligerent or disrespectful. They deserve better, said Garrett, than being treated as bargaining chips by the city administration.
“Fredrick Douglass said, ‘Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them,'” said Garrett. “The students walked around with their heads down. I told them to lift their heads up because they’ve already won. Whether or not they get this $30,000 grant from the city, they’ve won because they didn’t quietly submit.”
Contact reporter Derek Kreider at DKreider@Gannett.com or (330) 541-9413